The Third Animal Models as Biomedical Tools: Skin and Hair Mutations Workshop will be held October 3-7, 2000, at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. The workshop will be co-sponsored and organized by the North American Hair Research Society. This workshop will focus on recent advances in mammalian genetics, the powerful mouse genetic tools available to augment human genetic studies, and mouse mutations (both spontaneous and induced) as biomedical tools for dermatological research. Day one will focus on mammalian genetics, day two on developmental biology and pathobiology, and the last day and a half on the pathobiology of hair. Participants will have an opportunity to examine affected mice, evaluate microscopic slides of characteristic lesions, utilize the Mouse Genome Database as well as other TJL Bioinformatics computerized systems, and interact directly with scientists who develop the models and characterize these mutations. Scientific sessions will compare aspects of these mouse mutations to human dermatologic diseases. The most unique aspect of this workshop will be the comparative clinic which will include both mouse models and their respective human disease counterparts for examination by both clinicians and basic researchers. We are currently working with several foundations to coordinate volunteer subjects from various support/advocacy groups and foundations whose principle concern is with rare diseases of the skin and hair. In particular, a live clinic featuring human volunteer subjects with a variety of skin and hair diseases, will be presented in parallel with the mouse models used for studying those diseases. This unique approach will underscore the tremendous power of the laboratory mouse in modeling and understanding human diseases of the skin and hair. This workshop will foster interaction between researchers who are developing animal models for dermatological research and investigators searching for better animal models and research tools with which to probe the integumentary system.